Locking device.



W. H-HOONEY LOCKING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1915.

I Patented Feb. 15,1916.

WILLIAM H. RODNEY, OF NEW YORK,-1\T. Y.

LOCKING nnvrcn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. '15, 1916.

Application filed'J'une 25, 1915. Serial No. 36,409. I

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. RooNnx,

a citizenof the United States, residing in' the borough and county of the Bronx, in the city and Stateof New York, have in vented a certain new and useful Improvement in Locln'ng Devices, of which the following'is a specification.

I willfirst describe my improvement in detail and then point out the novel features in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a general plan of boxes in electrical communication with each other and showing the door of one box open; Fig. 2 is a general plan of boxes in electrical communication with each other showing the doors of all boxes closed; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the dotted line 3- 3, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4: is a partial plan view of a box showing the door thereof closed.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates an outer casing shown as having hinged thereto a door, as A, provided with a lock, as a. An eye or staple, as a, is shown as arranged on the inside of the door A.

O designates a casing which in Figs. 1 and 3 is shown as having a plunger 0 projecting therefrom. The casing C, with its plunger 0, is so arranged that the closing of the door A will push the plunger 0 backward. A spring or other suitable means may cause the plunger 0 to advance outwardly as the door A is opened. Within the casing C are contact points which may be so disposed toward each other that the spring or other means for actuating the plunger 0 will cause one of said contact points to advance toward the other as the plunger 0 moves outwardly and recede from each other as the plunger 0 is moved backward.

A piece, D, is shown as fulcrumed at (Z. This piece D is shown as provided with a hooked portion (1, and the piece D is shown as so fulcrumed at d that the portion d is of greater weight than the hooked portion d. The piece D is so arranged that the hooked portion at thereof may engage the eye or staple a.

Then closing the door the staple engages the inclined end of the hook cl and throws member D to the unlocked position.

E designates a magnet so arranged that the portion d of the piece D may be attr'acted thereby. An electric lamp, 6 may, if desired, be connected with this magnet E.

Any desired number of boxes may be ar ranged in electrical communication with each other, and the magnets E of all the boxes so arranged as to be in electrical communication, so that when the contact points within the casing C of any one box of the series are in engagement the circuit is closed and the magnets E of all the boxes of the series are energized.

I will now describe my improvement as applied to a police patrol system.

Supposing that Patrolman Doe desires to report from one of the patrol boxes (which patrol box may be designated as No. 8) of the series to a central station or office Patrolman Doe inserts his key to open the door A of this box 8. As he opens this door A the plunger 0 is pushed outward by a spring in the casing C and when this plunger has advanced outward sufiiciently the contact points within the casing C come into engagement with each other and thereby close an electric circuit and energizeall the magnets E-in the boxes of the series of which box 8 isv one. The magnet E of each box of the series attracts the portion d of the piece D arranged in such box and thereby the hooked portion (1 of all boxes in the series (except box 8) are drawn down into engagement with their several eyes or staples a and all the boxes of the series (except box 8) are so hooked on the inside that they cannot be opened. In this operation the magnet E of box 8 has, of course, been energized, and the hooked portion (2' of the piece D of box 8 been drawn down, but the opening of the door A of box 8 has withdrawn the eye or staple a of the door of box 8 away from engagement with the hooked portion cl of box 8.

When Patrolman Doe closes the door A of box 8 the plunger 0 of box 8 is, by that operation, pushed inward, thereby separating the contact points within the casing C of box 8 from engagement with each other, and opening the electric circuit which energizes the magnets E of all the boxes of the series. Thereupon the portions 03 of all the boxes of the series will fall, and this movement will cause the hooked portion d of the piece D of each box of the series to disengage its eye or staple a. Thereby and until some other box in the series is opened, any

box in the series may be opened in the same manner as Patrolman Doe opened box 8. When Patrolman Doe closes the door of box 8 itmay be locked either automatically or by turning a key.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A box provided with a door, a locking device for said door, means for electrically controlling such locking device, a second box, an electrically controlled lock for the door of said second box, and means connected with the first mentioned box for actuating the lock of the door of the secondly mentioned box when the door of the first mentioned box is opened.

2. In asystem of the class described, a

plurality of electrically operated locking de-- vices, a plurality of independent receptacles each containing one of said locking devices, a circuit connecting the devices, a door to be secured by each of said devices, and

means released by the movement of one of said'doors for causing the locking devices associated with the other doors to secure the latter.

3. A series of boxes, each of which boxes is provided with a door, and an electrically controlled locking device for such door including a gravity device and means for mechanically operating the same at times, all of said locking devices being electrically connected, and a device in each box for completing an electric circuit through the locking devices of ail boxes of the series,

and retaining the doors of all other boxes of the series locked when the door of one box is opened,

4. In mechanism of the class described, a box, a door therefor, a pivoted member for securing the door in a closed position, said member being normally in a release position, and means for electrically operating said member, including a circuit closing device mounted adjacent to the door of another box and adapted to close when the door last mentioned is opened, said member being 0perated mechanically at times, and operated. by gravity when released by mechanical or electrical means.

5. In mechanism of the class described, a box, a door therefor, a member pivoted Within the box, a device on the door engaged by said member having an inclined portion, the opposite end constituting an armature, and one end of the member being heavier than the other, normally preventing engagement with the device on the door, a magnet for effecting such engagement, a circuit therefor, and a circuit closing device adjacent to the door of another box, said device on the door being positioned to tilt the .pivoted member, causing the latter to assume position for engagement between the device and member.

IVILLIAM H. ROONEY.

lVitnesses:

IV. R. BOWEN, MARY E. BOWEN. 

